North America's Building Trades Unions v. Occupational Safety & Health Administration

Respirable crystalline forms of silica, 1 a compound made of silicon and oxygen, are commonly found in workplaces with rock, sand, gravel, concrete, and brick. Exposure to silica is one of the oldest known occupational hazards. And the health effects of exposure to silica—most commonly silicosis, a .progressive and irreversible lung disease caused by the inflammatory effects of silica—are not a thing of the past. “Currently, silicosis is the most prevalent chronic occupational disease in the world.” Robbins & Cotran, Pathologic Basis Of Disease 690 (9th ed. 2015).

In the United States, more…